Steadier temperatures for most of this week – mid 20s C – but heatwave levels are forecast to return for the weekend, so I thought I’d go with just one more set of hot heat summer sunshine tunes. As this is the last, for now, I’m adding in a bonus sixth tune this week. I’ve played five of these before but one is making its debut – I don’t just copy these from old posts, you know!

Let’s get started with a rock classic:

As I expect you may well know, Cream were a British rock band formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Jack was the primary songwriter and vocalist, although Eric and Ginger contributed too. Sunshine Of Your Love was a track on their second album, Disraeli Gears, which was released in November 1967 and got to #5 in the UK and #4 in the US. This was taken from it as a single the following month, and peaked at #25 in the UK and #5 in the US. The song was co-written by Jack and Eric, along with frequent collaborator Pete Brown, and the two of them share lead vocals, as you can see from the video. This has long been a favourite of mine, as were the band, who gave us four albums in a little over two years and then went off to do other things, as you probably noticed if you were around at the time.

This next one is another favourite even after all these years:

I’m sure most will know Glenn Frey’s song The Heat Is On from it being featured in the Beverley Hills Cop movie, as you can see from this video on Glenn’s VEVO page. This was released as a single in December 1984, to coincide with the movie opening in the US. It reached #2 in the US and #12 in the UK, his equal highest solo US chart placing and by a distance his most successful in the UK. I’ve always rather liked this, even if the movie does have rather too much of Eddie Murphy doing his usual OTT act for my liking – I’ve always preferred him in Trading Places, but then that movie did have the twin attractions of Jamie Lee Curtis to commend it. The song has appeared on the movie soundtrack and on compilation albums but was never on one of Glenn’s studio records. In case you are wondering, the saxophone player in the video is Beverly Dahlke-Smith, though the part was actually played by David Woodford on the record. (Yeah, me neither?)

Today’s third tune is the first-timer:

Chappell Roan released Hot To Go as single in August 2023, and it reached #15 in the US and #4 in the UK. It was her seventh single to be included on her debut, and so far only, album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, which came out in September 2023. The album has been a huge success, making #2 in the US and #1 in the UK, going 2x Platinum in both, and has also reached #1 in New Zealand and Ireland, #2 in The Netherlands, and #3 in Canada and Australia. The single went 4x Platinum in the US and 2x Platinum in the UK – impressive stuff! The song was acclaimed on its release for its composition and its story, which describes a woman wishing to have sex with another woman. Its accompanying dance, which you can see Chappell teaching her grandparents in the video and which consists of spelling out the song’s title using a person’s arms, went viral on social media, with videos of large festival crowds performing it.

Back to an old favourite next:

Summer In The City was released as a single by The Lovin’ Spoonful in July 1966, reaching #1 in the US and Canada, and #8 here in the UK. It was also included on the album Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful, which peaked at #14 in the US but didn’t chart here. As a depiction of the two sides of city life in summer heat it is perfect, in my view. I just wish I hadn’t always been so keen to get out of the city after work: it appears I may have been missing out…

And I can’t leave The Boss out of these, can I:

The imagery of the song is a wonderful evocation of how love can pass on and how little things, like seeing girls in their summer clothes, can remind us of happier times: it is a collection of vignettes from life, very typical of Bruce Springsteen’s storytelling style of songwriting. Girls In Their Summer Clothes was a track on his album Magic, released in September 2007, which peaked at #1 in both the US and the UK, as well as elsewhere. It was released on iTunes as a digital single in January 2008, and reached #98 on the Billboard chart. It is one of my favourites of his – something about it just gets to me. I think that may be because the album was released around the time my marriage was ending, and I played it a lot once I was living on my own, with plenty of time to think!

I’m closing today with the best band of all time – no discussion, they just are! This is another favourite of mine:

Good Day Sunshine was released in August 1966 as a track on The Beatles’ seventh album, Revolver. This was a good time for a new album, as England won the World Cup the previous weekend, and this kind of became the soundtrack for a joyous summer here. It has sold well over 7m copies worldwide in various forms, 5m of those in the US, and on original release reached #1 in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Finland, Sweden and, showing that there was no lingering resentment over that Russian linesman, in what was then still West Germany, though some of them still bang on about it now! But at least we did much better than them in the most recent World Cup, which ended on Sunday!

That’s all for today, though I leave you with my usual reminder of where I’m sharing this post. Firstly, at Esme’s Senior Salon Pit Stop, and then at Cathy’s Monday’s (On Sundays) Music Moves Me. Do pop over and take a look.

I’ll see you again soon, so until then take care 👍